


stormy weather

by eg1701



Series: thorbruce and endgame [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Talking, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Thunderstorms, during the five years before the time heist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 17:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19322716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eg1701/pseuds/eg1701
Summary: some people find thunderstorms relaxing. bruce is one of those people.





	stormy weather

It was storming out, though Bruce knew it was a natural storm, and not Thor’s. He could usually tell the difference, even when they were apart, but there was no need now. The weather channel had been predicting a storm all day, and it had finally finished rolling in, the sky darkening and thunder rumbling off and on.  


Bruce loved storms. As a child, he and his mother would sit on the porch and watch the lightning, counting until the thunder rumbled. He had a thousand questions about storms, where they came from, why there was lightning, why there was thunder, and she’d always smile and explain, even though he was pretty sure she came to be silent and watch. Maybe his questions hadn’t bothered her at all.  


Now, he still liked to watch the storms. Their home was on the sea, and he thought the clouds rolling in over the water, the waves lapping against the beach, all of it was perfect. A home was something he never thought he could have, not after everything, but here he was, in a place they’d built together. Sometimes, if he was having a really bad day, Thor would entice him outside, or at least into the living room with a thunderstorm. Thor’s storms came out of nowhere, the clouds darkening all at once, and the rain pouring with no build up at all. Sometimes he wondered if the people in New Asgard minded these storms Thor concocted, but it was so kind he couldn’t really think too much about it.  


If he was a romantic, Bruce would say that they were always meant to be together, and his love of thunder as a child just proved it. He didn’t really think of himself as a romantic, but he was making coffee in his kitchen at ten at night so he and his husband could sit on the porch and watch the storm.  


Maybe a little bit then.  


“Honey?” he called, “Do you want coffee?”  


Thor popped his head into the kitchen and smiled. It still wasn’t the smile Bruce knew, the one he’d had when they met, but they’d all been through so much, he was just happy to see Thor smiling at all. Thor worked hard to make Bruce smile, and Bruce wanted desperately to do the same.  


“Yes please. Are you sure you just want to watch the rain?”  


Bruce nodded, “I do it all the time when you’re not here. It’s relaxing.”  


“Is that a normal Midgardian custom?” Thor asked, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. Bruce was always telling him to hang it up, and he never did.  


“Some people like it,” Bruce said, handing Thor his mug, “Some people don’t. It depends. My mother loved it. Come on, we’ll miss the lightning.”

*** 

Outside on the porch, Thor propped his feet up on an empty chair, and put his arm around Bruce, who leaned in and smiled. The rain had picked up quickly, but the thunder was still pretty far off. It was getting closer though, that much he knew.  


“Are you alright honey?” Bruce asked, “You’re awfully quiet. It’s not really like you.”  


“I’m alright.”  


“Are you lying? Because I’m your husband and you can be not alright with me. I’m not the others. You don’t have to be King Thor around me.”  


“I’m alright my love, I’m better. We’re healing. But do you think we might ever be able to bring them back?”  


Lightning flashed over head, and Bruce considered his answer.  


“I don’t know,” Bruce considered lying, but decided it wasn’t worth it, Thor would know and he’d just chastised him for lying, “I wish I knew. I think that we’re never going to give up trying, until we’ve exhausted every possible and impossible solution. The stones are gone. I don’t know how we’ll do what has to be done without them.”  


Thor nodded, “I know.”  


“I know what you’re thinking,” Bruce sat up, and took one of Thor’s hands in his.“You’re thinking that figuring it out is someone your responsibility but it isn’t. It’s not your fault, so it’s not your responsibility. Even so, one person can’t figure this out. Even you. I know I tell you this, but I still think you don’t believe me, so I’ll keep telling you.”  


“I wonder if I could be doing more,” Thor muttered, brushing his thumb across the back of Bruce’s hand, “I mean, I know that my place is here, with my people. With you. But could we be doing more?”  


“I think we’re doing what we can. We help Nat when she needs us, and even when she doesn’t. We’ve worked with everyone left who has any semblance of an idea. Right now, our place is here. This is what we can be doing. Sometimes being a hero is taking care of the people around you and that’s it. These people have been through a serious trauma, and that doesn’t go away overnight.”  


“Do you have a PhD in good advice?”  


Bruce laughed, “No, I just know how to talk to my husband. It’s a talent. Not something you can learn. Your coffee’s getting cold honey, why don’t you drink it? We can talk about this all you want.”  


“I love you.”  


“I love you too.”  


They fell silent again. The thunder was closer now, the sky pitch black, and occasionally lightning would light it all up and they could see the waves below.  


“Are you, like a conductor of electricity?” Bruce asked, “I’m not going to get struck by lightning am I?”  


Thor laughed, “I think you’re perfectly safe with me. I don’t think the lightning will strike the porch.”  


“Once, when I was still really little, we were living in this middle of nowhere neighborhood in Ohio, and mom and I were watching the storm like always, and we saw lightning strike a tree. I suppose it was the tallest thing around, but I’d never seen anything like it. I went to check it out the next morning and it was all charred. Maybe if things had been different I’d have been a meteorologist.”  


Thor smiled, much realer this time, “Maybe you can get another PhD.”  


“I think eight is just an obnoxious amount.”  


“And seven isn’t?”  


“That’s fair.”


End file.
